League's best team shifts into overdrive

NBA - Pistons 108, Magic 99

AUBURN HILLS. Mich. -- The Orlando Magic were playing their best basketball of the season.

The Detroit Pistons were playing their best basketball in their history, and the Pistons' history includes three NBA titles.

The Magic brought out the best -- and the beast -- in the Pistons and fell 108-99 at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

The Pistons improved their record to 25-4 -- tops in the NBA -- and continued a march toward an improbable 70-victory season.

The Magic (12-16) came in riding a modest three-game winning streak and showing signs of consistency. They continued playing well and together, extending the game into the fourth quarter before the powerhouse Pistons simply turned it on.

"They turned the screws when they needed to," Magic forward Grant Hill said. "They don't make mistakes. They wait for you to make mistakes."

And that's how it played out. As has been their calling card since winning the title two years ago, the Pistons applied defensive pressure, coming up with seven second-half steals after none in the first half.

They forced the Magic into three consecutive mistakes midway through the final quarter, turning an 81-all tie into an 89-81 lead. The Pistons scored off turnovers by Hedo Turkoglu, Pat Garrity and Jameer Nelson.

Orlando never threatened again.

"That's who they are," Magic Coach Brian Hill said. "When they stepped it up a notch in the fourth quarter, we didn't execute as well as we had been in the fourth [in past games]. That's what elite teams do. That's what we got to be ready to handle to make the next step."

The Pistons also can apply offensive pressure under new Coach Flip Saunders, who simply hands over the keys to point guard Chauncey Billups.

Hearing frequent chants of "MVP! MVP!," Billups scored 12 of his career-high 37 points in the fourth quarter and made 15 of 17 free throws. He added nine assists with just one turnover, directing perhaps the best starting five in the NBA.

Billups and shooting guard Richard Hamilton combined for 62 points, and the two made six of Detroit's backbreaking eight 8-point shots. The teams each shot 52.7 percent, but Orlando connected on just two 3-pointers.

By comparison, they smoked the Magic guard tandem of Steve Francis and DeShawn Stevenson. Francis and Stevenson combined for 17 points and five of Orlando's 12 turnovers.

Francis scored nine points, about half his average. He took only four shots in the second half and finished with seven attempts.

Hill said the usual shots for Francis were there, but Francis disagreed.

"I guess it wasn't my day for plays to be called for me," he said.

One thing beyond dispute: Francis said he and Stevenson "didn't put enough pressure on Rip Hamilton and Chauncey Billups. We weren't aggressive. We didn't make them work on defense so they would be tired on offense."

Dwight Howard made 8 of 11 shots and led the Magic with 22 points and 14 rebounds. The Pistons also pounced on Howard, forcing him into three turnovers.

Howard and Tony Battie (12 points) helped the Magic exploit what has been the only chink in the Pistons' armor. Detroit had given up an average of 41.5 points in the paint entering the game, and Orlando scored 52.

Nelson had 18 points off the bench. Grant Hill, making his second return to face his former team, had 15 points on 7-of-17 shooting.

Trailing 57-55 at halftime, the Magic weathered a Pistons knockout punch in the third. Detroit surged ahead 68-61, but Orlando responded and even took a 73-72 lead on Grant Hill's three-point play.

It was a thing of beauty from Hill, who showed the Pistons' crowd some throwback moves. But Hill managed only two points in a shaky, telltale final quarter.

"They did what championship teams do," Hill said. "We just have to learn from this."